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• A coupling mixed pixel decomposition and mixed-cell simulation methods are proposed. • The subpixel-scale impact of land use structure dynamics on future UHIs is revealed. • How the multiscale land use composition mechanisms affecting UHIs are explored. • The potential influence of UHIs on future populations is evaluated in this study. Urban heat islands (UHIs) has been proven firmly related to the land use structure. Identifying interactions between UHIs and multiple land use components is a crucial step to obtain human heat welfare information. However, few studies have predicted sub cell scale land use structure dynamics on UHIs due to the lack of subpixel simulation methods. Herein, we present an integrated framework coupling subpixel unmixing and mixed-cell simulation methods to predict fine-scale land-use structural changes. A widely used XGBoost was used to determine the optimal scale for future UHIs prediction. This framework explores how multiscale changes in land use structure will affect future UHIs intensity, taking Wuhan, China as a study area. The results reveal that most influence comes from the scale below the 330-m grid, while the fine-scale land use components of a given position show limited impact on the UHI intensity. Impervious surfaces contribute more than 55% of the importance, while bare soil and water components within the 270-m grid also significantly affect UHIs. We also find that optimizing the structure of land use components can potentially release approximately 599,000 people from high-UHI regions in the study area. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dramatic land cover changes related to the accelerated urbanization process have led to habitat fragmentation and loss, resulting in biodiversity loss. Ecological Networks (ENs) have been seen as an effective solution for ecological conservation targeting habitat connectedness and ecosystem functions. The EN research is, however, generally depicted by current or historical landscape data, devoid of the potential future disturbances, which is detrimental to maintaining EN's stability and sustainability. This study combines the system dynamics (SD) model and patch-generating land use simulation (PLUS) to simulate land use patterns in Wuhan urban agglomeration (WUA), China. The simulated land use data were incorporated into EN modeling to assess the long-term dynamics of EN in WUA, considering two scenarios related to human activities and climate change. In parallel, a landscape graphs approach is used to estimate the spatial priority of EN for conservation in landscape dynamics. The results show that: (1) The grassland decreased from 2000 to 2020 and is expected to increase from 2020 to 2035. The area of construction land would reach its peak in 2035 while cultivated land would hit a low point. (2) Analysis of EN reveals habitat fragmentation and reduced connectivity from 2000 to 2020. From 2020 to 2035, an increase in EN connectivity is expected to be observed in the SSP5–8.5 scenario, while SSP2–4.5 is the reduced scenario. (3) Southern and eastern WUA exhibit high conservation priority. The hotspots of local landscape changes are mainly the corridors that traverse through human activity areas and the edges of core habitats, which is critical to conserving. (4) The impact of natural and socioeconomic factors on EN exhibits spatial heterogeneity. This paper provides new insights to protect habitats and biodiversity to mitigate the challenge of human activities and climate change. [Display omitted] • Scenario simulation evaluates the impacts of human and climate change on ecological network. • The SSP5-8.5 indicates an increase in connectivity of the ecological networks. • The impact of urban development on the ecological network varies depending on urban structures. • More emphasis should be focused on the hotspot areas where the local landscape changes. • A scenario of increased connectivity does not imply that it should be prioritized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the fact that early excision and grafting have significantly improved burn outcomes, the management of severely burned patients whose burn size exceeds 70% total body surface area (TBSA) still represents a big challenge for burn surgeons all over the world. During the period of 1997–2010 at our centre, aggressive excision and microskin autografting were performed in 63 severely burned patients. Their burn sizes ranged from 70% to 98% TBSA with a mean of 84.9%. The average full-thickness burn was 66.3% (range, 29–94%). Thirty patients had concomitant inhalation injury. Two to 7 days after burn, these patients underwent aggressive excisions ranging from 25% to 60% TBSA and transplantation of microskin autograft overlaid with allograft. The ratios of donor-site to recipient-site surface area were between 1:6 and 1:18. Signs of epithelialization were shown within 35–55 days. The wound healing rate was 74.9% (176/235), with 51.1% of cases (120/235) healing completely and 23.8% (56/235) improving. Microskin autografting yielded an overall survival rate of 63.5%; only 23 patients died. Our clinical experience in using the microskin autografting for burn coverage suggests that the technique is very effective in covering extensive burns, and that it is particularly useful when graft donor sites are very limited due to its high utilization rate of donor site. The factors affecting the outcome of microskin autografting are discussed herein. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A noninvasive high-resolution imaging technique of cerebral electric activities has been developed to directly link scalp potential measurement with the magnetic resonance images of the subjects, which is very helpful for the elucidation of the cortical processing following various stimulations. Here, we used a 64-channel Neuroscan ESI-128 system to explore the specific cortical activities elicited by electroacupuncture (EA) acupoint in normal volunteers and the modulatory effect of EA on cortical activities evoked by noxious somatosensory stimulation. A specific later-latency somatosensory-evoked potential (SEP, P150) located in bilateral anterior cingulated cortex was observed after EA acupoint but not non-acupoint. Two pain-specific SEP components (P170 and N280), located in bilateral suprasylvian operculum and anterior cingulated cortex respectively were observed following painful median nerve stimulation. Binding EA acupoint with painful median nerve stimulation, the amplitudes of P170 and N280 appeared to be attenuated significantly, 2D topography exhibited tremendous decrease of cortical activation between 120 ms and 296 ms in latency, and visual analogue scale (VAS) changes also showed a similar pattern to the change of amplitude. The bilateral anterior cingulated cortex recruited following acupoint stimuli might, to some extent, suggest that EA has the specific physiological effects. Decrease of pain-induced cortical activation by EA acupoint was considered to be mainly due to an interaction of the signals in anterior cingulated cortex ascending from the pain stimulation and EA. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Lysozyme (Ly) is an excellent natural preservative to prolong the storage and shelf life of food products. However, its bioactivity is often compromised when it coexists with negatively charged polysaccharides due to their unfavorable electrostatic interactions. In this study, we investigated the influence of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) on Ly structure and bioactivity under the different CMC and Ly mass ratios and thermal treatments. The CMC-Ly complexes were characterized by turbidity, protein intrinsic and extrinsic (isothiocyanate labeled) fluorescence, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopies. The bioactivities of Ly were determined via enzymatic activity and inhibition zone methods. The results showed that their interactions could be modulated by the mass ratios of CMC to Ly. The strongest interactions were found at the mass ratio of 1:5, leading to the significant structural changes and thus the least heating stability of Ly. As a result, its enzymatic and antibacterial activities were restrained at the maximum level at this mass ratio owing to the strongest screening effects on the active sites, aggregation of Ly molecules, altering the spatial structure and neutralizing the surface charges. Notably, further increasing CMC concentration weakened their interactions and thus the complexes dissociated until at the mass ratio of 1:1, which, however, was helpful to recapture the bioactivities of Ly. When the CMC: Ly ratio was higher than 1:1, the bioactivities of Ly were diminished again, possibly due to the steric-hindrance effect of excessive CMC. Thermal denaturation further restrained the enzymatic activities of Ly in CMC-Ly complex. Whereas CMC remained the antibacterial activity of Ly at high temperature heating. In a nut shell, our findings from this work shed some light on the possible mechanistic explanation of negative effects from polysaccharides on the bioactivity of Ly during food processing. Image 1 • The bioactivity of lysozyme (Ly) is compromised by negatively charged polysaccharides. • The interactions were modulated by the ratios of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) to Ly. • The strongest electrostatic interactions were found at CMC and Ly mass ratio of 1:5. • The bioactivity of Ly was also restrained at the maximum level at the ratio of 1:5. • Heating induced more denaturation of Ly with the existence of CMC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cellular Automata (CA) are widely used to model the dynamics within complex land use and land cover (LULC) systems. Past CA model research has focused on improving the technical modeling procedures, and only a few studies have sought to improve our understanding of the nonlinear relationships that underlie LULC change. Many CA models lack the ability to simulate the detailed patch evolution of multiple land use types. This study introduces a patch-generating land use simulation (PLUS) model that integrates a land expansion analysis strategy and a CA model based on multi-type random patch seeds. These were used to understand the drivers of land expansion and to investigate the landscape dynamics in Wuhan, China. The proposed model achieved a higher simulation accuracy and more similar landscape pattern metrics to the true landscape than other CA models tested. The land expansion analysis strategy also uncovered some underlying transition rules, such as that grassland is most likely to be found where it is not strongly impacted by human activities, and that deciduous forest areas tend to grow adjacent to arterial roads. We also projected the structure of land use under different optimizing scenarios for 2035 by combining the proposed model with multi-objective programming. The results indicate that the proposed model can help policymakers to manage future land use dynamics and so to realize more sustainable land use patterns for future development. Software for PLUS has been made available at https://github.com/HPSCIL/Patch-generating_Land_Use_Simulation_Model • A PLUS model was proposed to support policymaking and understanding of the LULC laws. • Patch dynamics of land use can be projected by the proposed simulation framework. • A land expansion analysis strategy was presented to help uncover the drivers of LULC. • Sustainable land use patterns can be determined by coupling the PLUS and MOP methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid urban expansion, accompanied by intense landscape changes, significantly affects natural habitats. Promoting sustainable urban development, such as the compact city strategy, is essential to balance ecosystem conservation and socio-economic development. Previous studies have generally focused on exploring the ecosystem impact of urban expansion concerning the future projections of climate, population, and economic development. Less attention has been paid to how different urban forms modify the landscape and affect habitats at a fine resolution. This study has built a framework to demonstrate future land use change under various city compaction scenarios using a bottom-up Cellular Automata (CA) model and a top-down Markov model. Then the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs (InVEST) model was incorporated to evaluate the resultant habitat quality. By taking the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) as the study area, three future compact city scenarios in 2040 and 2060 were proposed to examine the accumulative effect of urban growth. The results show that by 2040, the high-compact scenario will cause the highest habitat quality degradation among all scenarios due to marked cropland displacement induced by urban edge expansion. By 2060, intensified medium or low-compact scenarios tend to create new urban clusters outside the existing urban areas, resulting in severe habitat isolation and fragmentation. The GBA presents significant spatial heterogeneity in habitat quality variation because of the uneven development between the core and key node cities. Our results suggest that a collaborative strategy should be promoted to motivate the unique advantages of each city. This could include maintaining the amount and connectivity of open space under city integration processes and reserving high-quality cropland, such as fish-pod-based agriculture, to mitigate habitat quality degradation. This study can provide insights for developing long-term land use management when applying compact city strategies to balance ecological conservation and urban development needs. • Three compact-city scenarios were developed to demonstrate urban morphology evolutions. • The same land use demand is adopted to examine the ecological consequences of the urban patterns. • Overall and regional habitat quality varies to different urban growth patterns. • Highly compact cities do not necessarily preserve habitats due to cropland displacement. • Less compact scenarios form new urban clusters under intensified leapfrogging development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We quantify different ecological indicators and obtain ecological security pattern and key regions. • Landscape connectivity is used to identify priority protected areas that meet future requirements. • We quantify the effectiveness of existing protected areas and identify isolated protected areas. • Future conservation measures are proposed from the perspectives of different priority conservation areas. Protected areas (PAs) play a key role in mitigating ecological crises. Currently, priority protected areas (PPAs) focus on biological conservation, and a few studies have considered the connectivity between patches. Few studies have formulated future conservation measures from the two dimensions of ecological security pattern (ESP) and reserve effectiveness. To fill this gap, this study considered the use of the ESP to identify areas that meet future conservation objectives. We take the Wuhan metropolitan area as the research area. We constructed a framework for formulating conservation development plans based on priority protected areas. The framework constructed a complete method system, and we focused on the construction of the evaluation index system based on landscape connectivity. Then, the effectiveness of the PAs could be evaluated, and the PPAs could be identified. The results showed that there were five isolated PAs among the existing PAs. Moreover, the total area of PPAs was 9328.91 km2, and they had high connectivity and ecological value. Due to the low protection rate of PPAs, PPAs are not the main protection target of PAs; thus, we take PPAs as a new area of future PAs. According to our plan, PPAs with different classes will achieve different functions in future protection work. Our framework focuses on achieving sustainable conservation and formulates new environmental protection and land planning measures to balance ecological conservation and urban development. It can provide key information to support the realization of the 2030 vision of sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Although the dramatic fluctuation of platelet counts (PCs) has always been observed in severely burnt patients, the underlying relationship between the decline of PCs and mortality has never been well defined. In this study, we evaluated the prognostic implications of PC decline in severely burnt patients. We performed a 3-year retrospective chart of adult patients with a burn index of 50 or greater admitted to 2 burn centers. A total of 97 survivors and 51 nonsurvivors were included in this study. The trends of PCs in 2 groups within first 10 days after admission are seen to constitute 2 stages, with a slump to a nadir during the first 3 days and then a variable recovery. With respect to 30-day mortality, the areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve for the percentage decline of PCs (PPC) during the first 3 days and Acute Physiology And Chronic Health Evaluation II score were 0.784 and 0.871, respectively (P = .0549). Furthermore, an optimal cutoff of PPC during the first 3 days, which discriminated survivors with nonsurvivors, was 65.53% using the maximum Youden index (0.4853). Although the sensitivity and specificity of PPC during the first 3 days were not as high as the Acute Physiology And Chronic Health Evaluation II score in the present study, Kaplan-Meier estimation and multiple logistic regression models both indicated that a PPC of 65% or greater during the first 3 days was significantly associated with 30-day death (odds ratio, 1.054; 95% confidence interval, 1.006-1.104; P = .028). In summary, an initial slump of PCs, especially a PPC of 65% or greater during the first 3 days, provides prognostic significance for 30-day mortality in severely burnt patients. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

With the establishment of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals in China, developing low-carbon cities has become crucial. Previous studies primarily focus on the quantitative structure of land use to achieve low carbon optimization, while ignoring the spatial integration between urban form and carbon emissions. To fulfill this gap, this paper proposed a dual-scale low carbon oriented multi-objective land use allocation (DOLA) optimization model, utilizing idea-point multi-objective linear programming (IMLP) and non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II) to optimize the low-carbon-emission pattern of the city at both the structural and spatial scales respectively. By innovatively linking the urban shape index with carbon emissions, this model aims to minimize urban carbon emissions, while maximizing economic development, urban development suitability, and the compactness of city. The proposed method is applied to Wuhan's main urban area in China, the DOLA model shows significant improvements in target values across all scenarios. Among them, the scenario that prioritized low carbon emissions at both the structural and spatial scales achieved the most significant reduction of 6.43 % in carbon emissions. The DOLA effectively contributes to achieving multiple spatial targets, thereby aiding in reducing carbon emissions. It offers technical support for developing pathways towards China's "dual carbon" target. • A dual-scale low carbon oriented multi-objective land use allocation (DOLA) optimization model is proposed. • The DOLA model innovatively incorporates urban form indices to carbon emissions. • The DOLA model achieves spatial aggregation targets, thereby facilitating significant reductions in carbon emissions. • The DOLA model generates a series of land use optimization scenarios, offering a valuable reference for land use planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanization-induced land cover changes significantly impact ecological environments and socioeconomic growth. Vector-based cellular automata (VCA) models are an advanced cellular automata (CA) method that use irregular cells and perform well in simulating land use changes within urban areas. However, the applicability and parameter setting of VCA models for land cover change simulation are still challenging for researchers. To address this issue, this study applied a VCA model and two raster-based models, i.e., a pixel-based CA model and a patch-based CA model, to simulate and compare their performance in simulating land cover changes. The results show that VCA and patch-based CA were superior, with VCA's FoM being 39.74% higher than pixel-based CA and 11.00% over patch-based CA. VCA effectively tracks construction land expansion in rapidly developing areas, while patch-based CA excels in central urban and suburban shifts, fitting broader study scopes. Additionally, a spatial scale sensitivity analysis of the VCA model revealed that a smaller VCA cell size improves accuracy but introduces a risk of spatial pattern errors. Notably, the scope of study impacts VCA accuracy more than cell size. These findings bolster land cover change modeling theory and offer insights for precise future land cover change simulations and decision-making. • Comparison of CA models reveals VCA and PLUS's superiority in urban land cover simulation. • VCA is ideal for rapid construction zones, while PLUS suits mature central areas and suburbs. • Modifying cell size boosts VCA's precision but affects landscape pattern similarity. • District variations influence VCA's accuracy more significantly than cell size adjustments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Metastable hexagonal h-MoO3 nanorods were synthesized by a simple sonochemical method, and then were transformed into thermodynamically stable a-MoO3 microbelts by calcination. The obtained samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential thermal analysis (DTA), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). It was found that the as-prepared h-MoO3 nanorods were of 0.2–1.2μm in width and 1-6μm in length. A possible formation and growth mechanism of hexagonal MoO3 nanorods is proposed, in which ultrasound plays a crucial role and cannot be ignored. Moreover, the effect of temperature on the transformation process by calcination is investigated and a possible growth process of microbelts is also discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Chinese peasants in the middle of Anhui Province and north of Dabieshan Mountain are accustomed to using industrial alcohol to kindle honeycomb briquettes in their household coal stoves. Pouring alcohol into the stove often results in flame burns when the honeycomb briquettes inside are not completely extinguished. The purpose of this study is to describe the unique cause and clinical characteristics of this type of injury. Methods: A retrospective review was performed in the Anhui Medical University Hospital Burn Center during a 10-year period, from January 1998 to December 2007, on the records of patients, who sustained burns by alcohol-based firing in household coal stoves. A total of 180 patients were identified and divided into two groups: children (<14 years of age) and adults (>14 years of age). Results: Boys and housewives were at greatest risk for this burn. As many as 115 patients (64%) sustained more than 10% burns, and children had a significantly larger full-thickness burn area than that of adults. The upper limbs of children and the lower limbs of adults were the most common areas to be injured. All patients came from Shucheng and its neighbouring counties, all of which are located in the middle of Anhui Province and to the north of Dabieshan Mountain. Summer months and daytime, especially during 16:00–17:59h and 8:00–11:59h, were the times of the highest incidence. A total of 80 patients underwent surgical intervention. The mean lengths of stay in hospital of children and adults patients were 21.38 days and 16.96 days, respectively. Two children died of severe shock, leading to a mortality rate of 1.11%. Conclusion: Burns caused by alcohol-based fires in household coal stoves is a common thermal injury in the middle of Anhui Province in China with characteristic clinical presentation and calls for preventive educational intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The MoS2 nanoplates with hexagonal morphology have been obtained via solid-state assembly of MoS2 nanosheets, which were prepared by a normal sulfurization method. The solid-state assembly was realized by a simple calcination process, and the annealing temperature played a crucial role in the formation of the final hexagonal nanoplates. A possible mechanism about the solid-state assembly was also proposed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Interactions among cities are playing an increasingly significant role in driving urban expansion in urban agglomerations. Many studies have combined the gravitational field model (GFM) with the cellular automata (CA) model to analyze the impact of urban spatial interaction on urban agglomerations. However, previous studies have used threshold-based CA models, which cannot ensure that the amount of simulated urban land (an important control variable) of the proposed CA model and contrasting CA models are consistent during experiments. In addition, previous studies have applied only one or two indicators to represent spatial interactions among cities, which cannot fully reflect the urban spatial field intensity levels within city clusters. Furthermore, previous studies have tended to apply simple mining methods (e.g., logistic regression) to mine the transition rules of CA models. These methods cannot explore the complex relationships between urban growth and driving factors (including urban spatial field intensity). This study proposes an integrated gravitational field model (IGFM) by combining comprehensive economic indicators, time-cost distance and information flow intensity to quantify urban spatial field intensity. The random forest (RF) algorithm, a machine learning method with a strong fitting ability, is adopted to mine the complex transition rules of a demand-driven CA model, which the previously developed simple mining methods are unable to accomplish. The use of demand-driven CA ensures the consistency of urban demand between contrasting CAs, which can help generate more rigorous results. The proposed IGFM-RF-CA is applied to simulate urban growth in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration (BTH). The IGFM-RF-CA can achieve high simulation accuracy not only for a whole area but also for most subdistricts, especially in relatively developed cities. We also find that the intensity of information flow in the simulation can significantly improve the performance of the CA model, particularly in small cities located along the periphery of the BTH, which are characterized by relatively low economic development but high Internet popularity. We suggest that some small cities (e.g., Zhangjiakou and Chengde) can promote their development by increasing their Internet popularity. • An integrated gravitational field model (IGFM) is proposed to measure urban spatial interactions. • An IGFM-RF-CA model is proposed to measure the importance of urban spatial interactions for urban growth. • The use of demand-driven CA can generate more rigorous results. • Information inflow intensity has a relatively strong effect on urban expansion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Understanding the impact of urban expansion on functional connectivity is significant to biodiversity conservation. Particularly, in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area (TGRA, Southwest China), the urban land has rapidly expanded to provide settlements for an enormous population of TGRA migrants. However, the consequence of future land-use changes to the functional connectivity of the local habitat network has rarely been studied. To extend this knowledge, this paper proposes a framework that integrates a novel cellular automata (CA) simulation model and ecological network analysis, taking the TGRA as the study area, to predict how different urban expansion scenarios might affect functional connectivity for a nationally protected species, the leopard. The least-cost path modeling is used, and a set of connectivity indicators are adopted to evaluate functional connectivity. The results show that, the population-growth-based urban expansion maintains a higher connectivity than the business-as-usual and fast-urban-growth scenarios. In addition, the connectivity loss due to urban expansion can be offset by the reforestation efforts of the Green-for-Grain Project. Finally, we identify habitat patches that act as key connectivity providers, and suggest that those patches be prioritized for protection to avoid significant connectivity loss. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • We studied the impact of urban expansion on functional connectivity. • Urban expansion simulation and network analysis is coupled. • Population-change-based urban expansion is an ideal development mode. • Grain-for-Green Project is helpful to improve connectivity against urban expansion. • Key connecting nodes were identified to provide guide for conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanization has profoundly altered the terrestrial ecosystem carbon cycle, especially the net primary productivity (NPP). Many attempts have been made to assess the influence of urbanization on NPP at coarse resolutions (e.g., 250 m or larger), which may ignore many smaller and highly fragmented urban lands, and to a large extent, underestimate the NPP variations induced by urban sprawl. Hence, we attempted to analyze the NPP variations influenced by urban sprawl at a fine resolution (e.g., 30 m), toward which the accuracy of NPP was improved using remotely sensed data fusion algorithm. In this paper, this assumption was tested in the Pearl River Delta of China. The land cover datasets from the Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM)/Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM +) were acquired to quantify the urban sprawl. The synthetic Normal Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI) data was obtained by fusing Landsat and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) NDVI via spatiotemporal fusion algorithm. The Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach (CASA) model was driven by land cover map, synthetic NDVI and meteorological data to estimate the 30-m resolution NPP. Then, we analyzed the influence of urban sprawl on 30-m resolution NPP during the period of 2001–2009. Additionally, we also simulated the spatiotemporal change of future urban sprawl under different scenarios using the Future Land Use Simulation (FLUS) model, and further analyzed its influence on 30-m resolution NPP. Our results showed that the accuracy of 30-m resolution NPP from synthetic NDVI is better than 500-m resolution NPP from MODIS NDVI. The loss in 30-m resolution NPP due to urban sprawl was much higher than 500-m resolution NPP. Moreover, the harmonious development scenario, characterized by a reasonable size of urban sprawl and a corresponding lower NPP loss from 2009 to 2050, would be considered as a more human-oriented and sustainable development strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The LiFePO4 precursor was synthesized using a precipitation with raw materials LiOH·H2O, (NH4)2HPO4 and FeSO4·7H2O. The kinetics of synthesis olivine LiFePO4 was studied by using a differential thermal analysis (DTA) at different heating rates. The average activation energy of the reaction where the precursor form olivine LiFePO4 was 239.39kJmol−1, calculated by Doyle–Ozawa and Kissinger methods. The reaction order, frequency factor, rate equation and kinetic equation of the reaction were determined by the Kissinger method. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR). The sample synthesized by the precursor sintered for 6h at 550°C shows a single-phase, regular morphology, well-distributed particle sizes and good electrochemical properties. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper attempt to verify the accuracy of the Multi-Angle Implementation of Atmospheric Correction (MAIAC) aerosol optical depth (AOD) product on a global scale using AOD measurements during 2000–2019 at 332 Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) sites. The results indicate that MAIAC AOD retrievals are highly correlated with ground-based AOD measurements. The correlation coefficients (R) are greater than 0.8 at more than 68% of AERONET sites. Meanwhile, the performance of MAIAC AOD retrievals in different climate zones is also investigated. The accuracy of MAIAC AOD retrievals is high (within expected error (EE) = 87.49% and 83.15%) in the regions of tropical rainforest climate and tropical open forest climate. Then, the uncertainties and estimation deviation of MAIAC AOD retrievals in various land-cover-types are analyzed. The results find that the MAIAC AOD retrievals show high correlation with aerosol measurements in the forest (within EE > 95%), while the poor accuracy is always observed in the barren areas (within EE = 62.56%, RMSE = 0.12). The uncertainty of the MAIAC AOD retrievals is not only related to the satellite and solar geometries, but also depends on the aerosol conditions, which become larger with the increase of aerosol loading and Ångstrom exponent (AE). Finally, the spatial variations of AOD values over the world are investigated. High AOD values are mainly distributed in Central Africa, Saudi Arabia, Southern Asia and China. • MODIS MAIAC 1 km resolution AOD products are evaluated globally. • The spatial continuity of MAIAC AOD retrievals during 2000–2019 are illustsrated. • Retrievals errors related to varying surface and atmospheric conditions are analyzed. • The spatial and temporal variations of AOD values over the world are investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unprecedented urbanization in China has directly resulted in residential vacancies, which has seriously stunted sustainable development, a part of China's new-type urbanization plan. Understanding the various types and mixes of residential vacancies is critical for the advancement of our knowledge of speculative urbanism and for devising vacancy-mitigation policies, but this issue remains insufficiently studied. Using municipal water consumption data, this study proposes a feasible and general-purpose framework for providing innovative insights into the variability in residential vacancies at the household level and the mixture of residential vacancies at the building level. This framework was applied to the city of Changshu, China, and four categories of vacant residences at the household level were identified: seasonally vacant residences, long-term vacant residences, newly built residences and occasionally vacant residences. The first category is closely related to tourism and seasonal industries, while the last three exhibit a Matthew effect. In addition to revealing significant and intensifying spatial clustering and three patterns of changes in vacancy mixtures (i.e., emergence, disappearance, and increases or decreases), the results identify particular types of vacant residences at the building level (e.g., extremely low-entropy long-term multihousehold buildings). The insights from this study can contribute to devising customized policies for alleviating residential vacancies. • The proposed framework reveals variability in and mixtures among residential vacancies using municipal water consumption. • The document representations of vacant residences are extracted based on the vacant residence corpus and Doc2Vec method. • Four categories of vacant residences at the household level are identified using the Doc2Vec and K-means++ methods. • Seasonally vacant residences are closely related to tourism and seasonal industries. • Long-term, newly built and occasionally vacant residences exhibit a Matthew effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The sol of silane and WO3 was prepared from tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) and methacryloxy-propyl-trimethoxy silane (KH570) with a novel route as described in previous work, and the aqueous WO3 solution was prepared from ammonium tungstate. These two sols were mixed by stirring for about 1 hour with a certain ratio. Through sol–gel method, the transparent hybrids coating of organic silane and tungsten oxide was prepared by spraying or dipping on the glass substrates, and then were heat-treated at a certain temperature. The photochromic properties were investigated. AFM was used to investigate the surface structure of the prepared coatings. The crystalline phase was studied through X-ray diffraction. UV lights with different wavelengths were used to get the coloration of the film. The results show that silane-WO3 film exhibits better photo-chromic properties under UV light irradiation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The effects of dimethyldiethoxysilane (DDS) addition on the sol–gel process of tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) were investigated by varying the addition-time of DDS to acid-catalyzed TEOS solutions in different water contents. At a low water content, the solution is transparent until gelation takes place, while at a high water content, phase separation occurs and leads to hydrophobic particles which, according to scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDX) and thermogravimetric (TG) analysis, show different morphology and thermal behavior. The reaction between TEOS and DDS in different water contents and the structure of final polymers are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• An clustering-based displacement reconstruction method for the geogrids with FBG sensors was proposed. • Two novel descriptors were designed as features for clustering. • The method was validated at three levels: numerical simulations, laboratory experiments and model testing. It has been found that cumulative measurement errors adversely affect the accurate reconstructions of the displacements of smart geogrids integrated with fiber Bragg grating sensors. The correction coefficients tend to vary with the deformation forms of the geogrids, which hinder the accurate self-corrections of the smart geogrids. Therefore, in order to address these issues and increase the displacement measurement accuracys, a sectionalized displacement reconstruction method for the smart geogrids was proposed. Two novel feature descriptors, which were termed as the displacement variation direction and logarithm of the strain absolute value, were designed. This was followed by an unsupervised clustering algorithm, which was designed to process the two designed features and categorize the smart geogrids into different sections. Each of the sections were corrected using the corresponding correction coefficients, which were optimized using a differential evolution algorithm. Then, simulations of smart geogrids with different lengths and different deformation patterns were performed for the purpose of validating the performance of the proposed method. It was determined that the mean of mean absolute errors (MAEs) of the simulation cases had been decreased from 18.6 mm to 2.2 mm. In addition, the proposed method was validated using laboratory experiments and model testing. The experimental results indicated that for the three different performed experiments, the proposed method had successfully reduced the mean MAEs from 12 mm to 5 mm. Therefore, smart geogrids using sectionalized displacement reconstruction methods were confirmed to be promising new developments in the field of practical civil engineering applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In China, the illegal adoption of missing persons and especially of missing children is a major public safety issue that affects social and family stability. Recent work has established a trafficking information network developed from a volunteer-managed database of missing persons that identifies and locates node cities and critical paths of illegal adoption. In order to evaluate locations where trafficking can be identified and provide direct advice for affected families, this study analyses the temporal and spatial distribution of the missing population and explores factors that affect their transfer. We use spatiotemporal information to construct multiple random forest (RF) models for predicting the locations of missing persons transfer on a larger spatial scale. The proposed independent RF models, namely, provinces potentially entered, destination grids, relative distances and relative directions models, achieve high levels of accuracy. Moreover, an integrated RF-based city-level prediction model can effectively locate the city a missing person was trafficked to. From our driving factor analysis, the transfer paths are strongly correlated with source provinces and grids. The study also shows that the transfer of missing persons is driven by multiple factors rather than by a single element. • The spatiotemporal distribution characteristics of the missing people were revealed. • A model is proposed to predict the current location of missing people. • The study can effectively help families determine the location of missing relatives. • This model can exploit the driving factors of missing population's transfer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The climatic characteristics of solar Ultraviolet radiation (UV) are of vital important for the climate change and photochemical reactions. High-quality records of solar UV radiation are the premise for solar UV researches and applications, but solar UV radiation observations are sparse around the world. Among all wavelength of UV radiations, only UVA (0.315–0.400 nm) and UVB (0.280–0.315 nm) could reach the earth surface. This study attempted to develop a novel efficient physically broadband parameterization (hereafter, FASTUV) for estimating surface solar UV radiation (0.280–0.400 μm) in all-sky conditions based on Leckner's spectral model for calculating shortwave solar radiation, using MERRA_2 reanalysis data. The Quadratic polynomial formula and artificial neural networks were used to calculate the cloud transmittance for UV, using sunshine durations measurements at 2474 CMA stations. The surface solar UV radiation measurements at 29 CERN (The Chinese Ecosystem Research Network) stations were used for validating the estimated UV values. The result showed the FASTUV model could be used for estimating UV values with high accuracy, strong robustness and fast speed. Then, the spatial and temporal variation of surface solar UV radiation in China were revealed. The result indicated that the Qinghai Tibetan Plateau and the Palmier Plateau has always been the areas with highest UV values, while the Northeastern China is the area with the lowest UV values. Meanwhile, the FASTUV model have been packaged into a software namely 'FASTUV_V1.0'. We provide the executable file of FASTUV model in publicly available repository: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.11409666. Unlabelled Image • A model for calculating broadband surface solar UV radiation is proposed. • This model has been evaluated in various climate zones over mainland China. • The model was packaged into a software to facilitate the users. • The spatial and temporal variations of UV values are investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the unprecedented pace of urbanization in recent decades, urban vacant residences have increased dramatically. The problem of numerous vacant residences has been severely criticized. The lack of comprehensive data obstructs revealing the spatiotemporal dynamics and the contributing factors of the vacant residences at a fine scale. This study proposes a feasible and general-purpose framework to analyze the vacant residences using municipal water consumption data. First, a residential vacancy identification method is proposed to identify the vacant residences, and the spatiotemporal characteristics of the vacant residences are analyzed using the spatial analysis methods. Second, the relationships between the residential vacancies and the service environments of the neighborhoods are examined using the random forest method. The framework was applied in Changshu city, China, and the results revealed a concentric circular spatial structure for residences. The results also indicated that the diversity of the facilities and services (FASs) has the highest impact on residential vacancies. As the degree of enrichment of the FASs approximates 1 or the percentage/diversity of the FASs increase, the residential vacancy length decreases. This study not only draws a detailed picture of vacant residences but also sheds light on policy implications for mitigating residential vacancies. • The municipal infrastructure and service data are first applied for monitoring residential vacancy at a fine scale. • The proposed framework reveals the spatiotemporal dynamics of vacant residences and the impact of service factors on them. • The areas in need of improvement and the contributing factors for mitigating residential vacancies can be identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]